Greetings to all St. Andrew’s members, welcome back! We hope that your summer months were blessed with relaxation, renewal, and joy! The beginning of our church year always comes with an expectation of good and the chance to see friends in our community and continue our spiritual journey.
The 2024/2025 program year will be another on St. Andrew’s path towards being a stronger more vibrant church. Our church has seen new families join; and with it, we see more youth. Thus, we will make a larger commitment to youth education and commit to a rebirth of the children’s choir. This is in addition to the many existing important elements of our parish life.
As I ponder the coming year, looking forward to our worship and fellowship, the thought of our collective role crosses my mind:
- It is all of us and the annual stewardship campaign that fund our church life, buildings, and activities.
- It is all of us that enable our strong clergy, Christian education, fellowship, music, etc.
- It is all of us that keep the church strong—our annual operating budget is funded via the annual Stewardship campaign.
The church can plan nothing without clarity on its annual funding. We base our budget on pledged amounts received and must balance our expenses with the anticipated pledges. And “pledging” may not be fully understood by some of us. While certainly related, it is distinct from “giving.” A pledge is a commitment to St. Andrew’s of what you will give during the coming year: whether it is given all at once via checks in the Sunday plate (or mailed in), using our on-line Realm system, through a securities donation, or given periodically over 12 months. Giving is the act of fulfilling your pledge.
For newer/younger members of our congregation, it is important to step up in their pledging in order that the church and its future is not vulnerable to the aging of membership or members moving away. Our role as parishioners is not just to come to church, we also have an obligation to pay our blessings forward—to participate and to reach in our stewardship pledging.
As we all embark upon the 2024/2025 program year at the church, we are all enriched by the growth of our community and by our activities together. Our future is promising. And as we pledge, we are Committing to our Future Together, the theme for this year’s campaign. May we all continue to approach the new year with grateful hearts for where we stand and for what lies ahead for St. Andrew’s.
With gratitude for your ongoing support,
Madison Riley, vestryperson for stewardship
